Britain's rail network could be close to breaking point

Britain's
trains aren't as overcrowded as New Delhi — but we could be
getting close.REUTERS/Ahmad
Masood

Anyone who has commuted by train in rush hour knows that the UK's
rail system is seriously feeling the strain of a growing
population.

Network Rail laid out some stats to back this up this morning
in its full-year results. An extra 67.3 million passengers
travelled by train over the last year, taking the total number to
a record high of 1.65 billion. That's over double the figure from
20 years ago.

As a result of this surge, Network Rail, which maintains the UK's
railways, is having to frantically pump money into the railway to
keep up with demand.

The company spent £3.4 billion ($5.25 billion) on servicing and
upgrading the network last year — equivalent to over £100 million
($154.5 million) every week. That's double what it was spending
five years ago.

Most of that — £2.9 billion ($4.48 billion) — went on replacing
worn out assets, i.e. replacing old rails and fixing broken
trains. Most of the network was built decades ago.

Those are some pretty insane stats. Spending £2.9 billion
($4.48 billion) renovating a network while 1.65
billion people are using it is like trying to rebuild a packed
car while it's travelling at 60 miles an hour.

To make matters worse Network Rail had its budget cut by £246
million ($380 million) last year after the government, which is
desperately
trying to balance its own books, decided it didn't need as
much money.

This subsidy cut, combined with financial hedges that went
against the company, meant Network Rail's pre-tax profit
plummeted from £1.03 billion ($1.59 billion) to £506 million
($781.7 million) last year. Any profits it does make are
reinvested in the railway.

Finance director Patrick Butcher says: "The railways continue to
grow in popularity and we continue to invest heavily to respond
to that demand. While progress is being made in improving
performance, safety, asset reliability and delivering more
renewals and projects, our rate of acceleration in these areas
isn't yet where we want it to be.

"With more than a million more trains on the network than ten
years ago, there are inevitable challenges. We are determined to
do more to improve and action is being taken to quicken the pace
of change."